ST. THOMAS, ON – Railway City Brewing has announced that two seasonal beers – one the latest installment in the brewery’s pro-am series, the other a popular annual offering – will be released later this week.

First up is the return of Double Dead Elephant, an amped-up version of Railway City’s flagship Dead Elephant Ale. Released each year to mark the anniversary of the death of Jumbo – the famous circus elephant who was killed when struck by a train in St. Thomas on September 15th, 1885 – the 7.5% abv and 90 IBU Imperial IPA brewed using Cascade hops from Vandelsyke Farm, located about 15 minutes to the east of the brewery.

The 2014 edition of Double Dead Elephant will be debuted at this month’s Thursday Night Release event, taking place at the brewery on September 11th starting at 7:00 PM, where it will be available to taste along with other Railway City brands. A limited run (600 cases) of silk-screened 750 ml bottles will subsequently be released at the Railway City retail store and – for the first time this year – select LCBO locations.

Following on the weekend will be the official launch of this year’s winning beer in Platform, Railway City’s annual homebrewing competition.

Platform 14: Big Hook is a 9.1% abv Belgian-style Double developed by homebrewers Geordan Saunders and Andy Wagner. Together with Railway City’s Zach Trynda, the pair scaled up their recipe to a full commercial batch, which is available now in 650 ml bottles at the brewery.

The release party for Platform 14 will take place on Sunday September 14th at 6:00 PM, and will feature beer tastings, brewery tours and an awards presentation for Saunders & Wagner and other homebrewers who participated in the competition.